GRAVEYARD.

[guestservices]

GRAVEYARD

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today...

...to be super dead. No, did you think you were getting a funeral? Sorry.

When you wake up, no matter how you died, you'll find yourself all in one piece, inside of a fairly large box that upon further inspection may in fact be a coffin. However, throwing the lid off isn't too difficult, and as you step out of your own grave, you'll find yourself standing in a cemetery behind a large mansion, where an iron gate stands between you and the entrance. Thankfully, the moment you approach, dirty and tired as you are, the gate swings open, and you're allowed immediate entrance into the mansion.

The mansion itself is a little dusty, and the furnishings are vintage at best, but... hey, it's home. Why don't you explore a little?

★

FIRST FLOOR.

★ On the first floor is a parlor and sitting area. On one of the tables is a phone, which as of Week 3, Saturday has a dial tone and can be used to contact hotel staff. In addition to that is a kitchen stocked with food - not to mention a large wine cellar full to the bursting with every kind of wine you could imagine. Vintage!

★ Walking down a long hallway, you'll find a laundry room with a washbin and a washboard, a few closets full of dusty old clothes, a large library, and an ornate dining room with a crystal chandelier.

Of note, the dining room in particular has a very tall wall of what look like portraits to one side. If you walk closer, however, you may notice that the portraits are moving - and appear to actually be holding black and white images of your friends (and enemies?) back in the hotel, so you can monitor their activities. That's nice! There are record players set up beneath the portraits, which come with blank records set in there already; if you turn them on while the blank records are set there, you will be able to hear what is being said by the people in the portraits.

★ At the very end of the first floor hallway is another door - it is locked up tight with a padlock, and has a message painted on it.... Don't dead? Inside here is the basement that the dead locked Qi Rong into on Friday of Week 5. In theory you might be able to take the key from someone and go in, since it hasn't been returned to Virgo; inside here is a dark, dank basement illuminated by a lantern giving off a dim green glow. There are barrels of stale water and sour wine, boxes containing stale crackers, extremely questionable jerky, and other rotted foodstuffs, and... uh... there are some unpleasant-looking rats skittering around. Icky. In practice, why would you want to? Just keep it locked.

1, 2, 3

★

SECOND FLOOR.

★ On the second floor of the mansion is a series of bedrooms. Just like the hotel, you'll find a room already booked with your name on a nameplate on the door - and a portrait of yourself, as well as your hostage, hanging just above the nameplate. The inside of the rooms are simple - a bed with red covers, a desk with a typewriter, and a small bathroom with a toilet and a clawfoot tub. Provided that you didn't give your belongings away, you'll find all of them on your bed, waiting for you upon your arrival. This includes tickets (so long as they weren't looted from your body and used to pay for hints) and other things that may have been evidence in your case but belonged to you beforehand.

★ A dumbwaiter sits at the end of the hallway of bedrooms. Inside of it is a typewriter, and a space where there once sat a golden bell labeled as Virgo's; however, the bell is currently missing. An unlabeled bell sits to the side of it. A small sign above the dumbwaiter says: PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT STAFF BY LEAVING A MESSAGE. VIRGO MAY ALSO BE SENT A TIP AND RUNG. PULL THE LEVER TO PRESS SEND. - STAFF

It seems you can reach out to the hotel staff by leaving a message or ringing the bell, though your options are limited for the latter. Sure enough, a lever in the wall next to the dumbwaiter is currently set to the "down" position. Push it to "up" and watch your message disappear.

★ Beside the dumbwaiter is one last bedroom. This room is marked with a plaque that says "Dream Suite", and has several familiar constellations decorating the door. Occasionally, when you ring the bell by the dumbwaiter while thinking of a member of Hotel Staff on the living side, the corresponding constellation on the door will light up, and you'll feel as though you should walk in. Inside, there is a line of comfortable beds. Lie down in one, and you'll have a dreamlike "in person" audience with the NPC you had attempted to contact.

★

OUTDOORS.

★ Outside of the mansion is a small garage. The ground here is worn down and thin, and you can almost make out what look like railroad tracks embedded in the dirt. Inside of the garage is a rattly old car that moves along those little railroad tracks, from the garage to the mansion front, and then back all the way around to the cemetery.

★ On the grounds, there is a garden full of flowers. There are also the remnants of gardening supplies and supplies to package and send bouquets, but none of these supplies are in useable condition now.

★ A "bumper cars" rink has been made by clearing out all of the rocks, weeds and grass in a sizeable area. There are some small slopes and dips, and a bumper barrier along the outside of the rink which was made by piling up compacted dead leaves from the graveyard. There are two "cars": laundry baskets that have rudimentary jar lid wheels with ladle axles and nails stolen from a dining room chair. They have been padded with some old clothing, like that will save anyone. Since we don't have electricity in hell, each "car" has one paddle made from tree branches broken down into the appropriate size, presumably used to push the cars around.

★ The cemetery where you first awaken is a direct copy of the cemetery outside of the hotel - right down to the placement of statues, mausoleums, and the creepy atmosphere. Your grave remains after you wake up in it, in case you want to take a dirt nap.

1, 2

N̸A̵V̴I̶G̶A̶T̴I̴O̸N̷.̷

█ LOCATIONS █ STATUSES █ PROFILES █ AUDIENCES
█ REPORTING █ PRIVATE CONVOS █ MURDER

Comments

WK5 - MONDAY (POST-MORTEM [REGRET]).

[decaptych]

[ Well it's a new week and a couple of things, I guess.

Namely, Sheila never showed up, and the reason why becomes apparent very fast on their live feeds. So they get to watch that over breakfast!

Speaking of breakfast, it is another lovely spread done by Souji, everyone thank him. Aikawa probably helped a bit but 99% was probably Souji anyways knowing how things are. There's probably a bit of everything so help yourselves!! He's also sliding forth... some pieces of paper (if the link doesn't go straight to it, click on Chart 1/2/3 tabs on the bottom). ]

Souji said last week that if we fill out charts, it'll be good for us! I don't think there's any harm to doing them at least, so you know, if we wanna, then write yourselves in. Sorry we kinda assigned a few of you, if you don't agree then you can erase and write your name somewhere else. If you have other ideas for this kinda stuff, go ahead.

---

Sooo, just so the new guys know, we have the power to also vote, now? It just started last week. Not one each, but it's more like, we can all send our votes, and whoever gets the majority gets counted as an 'extra vote' during the trial.

[ He won't make mention of how it'd suck that it's basically one additional vote to make someone join them (possibly), he's just trying to remain neutral about it. He is folding paper cranes out of napkins. ]

Apparently that's the kind of cool shit we get, by doing... well, usually it's tasks for Virgo, but uh... they're not gonna be here for a little while. Which brings us to our next point, I guess, which is about how we fucked the fuck up. I talked a bit to Virgo and they're real mad. So they're not inclined to come back.

Which is gonna be real screwed for us, because Virgo's the only one who can really do big time healing stuff around here, and you know, has control over the stuff here. They told me to 'just do something to convince me coming back is worth my time', which I think is hard, 'cause... [ Somewhere we can feel the presence of Qi Rong's cackling. ] The new guy really wants to kill them, and I don't think they're gonna come back while he's out and about.

Which, also -- Virgo's being real weird about it. I mentioned the new guy like he was a separate deal, but Virgo said it's only been them, in like... a really weird, denial kinda way. Said they were the one that fucked up the garden before leaving, stuff like that, basically. So I think it'd probably be best if you don't try to mention that guy to them. Just kinda, talk around it, okay?

I didn't invite the new guy to breakfast yet 'cause a lot of you don't like him already, so I guess it's worth thinking about what we wanna do about him. Befriend him? Kick his ass??? I dunno. I tried to ask him how and why he's here to begin with but he didn't really answer me. I'm good to keep trying to talk to him and learn something or two, but I can do that on my own.

---

Well, that's it from me at least. If anyone else has something, go right ahead.

[agleam]

When I talked to Cetus about him getting out, they said it's probably not going to work to try and talk him down, so... I guess we should keep that in mind as far as planning goes.

[callalilies]

[ thanks aikawa and souji!!! breakfast is tasty, but as they're eating whatever leftovers souji has managed to make tasty, kaeya will bring up a point: ]

Do not under any circumstances invite the "new guy" to do anything with you on your own, please.

He only stayed with us for a week before ending up in the Land of the Dead during our scenario, but I know enough about him that if you have questions, I can try to answer.

In case you didn't hear it from me before, he's a nuisance and a cannibal and he will try to kill you. If you attempt being nice to him, usually it backfires. If that's a ploy you want to go with... "befriending him" I'm going to say it now, you do it at your own risk. Normally, I don't ice someone out like this [ lol ] but he's proven himself faster to throw glass and bite your hand off than to do anything helpful. Historically. And by historically, I mean hundreds of hundreds of years according to the sources that I'm very well acquainted with, not just the eight weeks people had to deal with him.

That being said, I think putting a stop to Qi Rong's idiocy and trapping him again may encourage them to return.

[dms]

Aqui said GoGo was okay, at least, but... yeah. Mad. [ and kazu is a little depressed about it ): ] They said they were the one to mess up the garden, though? So what did they think they were guarding...?

Either way, Aqui said we should try to find a way to deal with this new guy, which I guess... means getting the key back, somehow, and getting them back in that room. And if we can, we really should make it up to GoGo - they didn't deserve to be knocked out and all, you know? They were just doing their job, and now...

[callalilies]

They were and it seems we've made a mess. Reparations are definitely in order... perhaps not just by locking him up but in doing something else in addition? A show of better faith?

[dms]

Definitely something else, too. We usually give them food, but I don't think that should be all we do for them, either. We owe them more than that, considering...

I don't know how much we can do, though. Flowers don't seem like their thing? I could paint something for them, but I don't know if they'd be into that, either. [ ... ] I guess there's the key, if we can get it back...

[frostythehitman]

I talked to Lepus about our situation with the asshole. They didn't give a damn at all.

[callalilies]

I imagine not, considering we got ourselves into the mess in the first place.

[ not said derisively like he was part of it too, just speaking objectively. ]

Aquila was also of the mind that we're going to have to do something about him before they even think about returning to us. They're thoroughly incensed, as Aikawa said, and I suppose with good reason considering his history. We really just let a... smelly green tiger out of its cage.

[frostythehitman]

Maybe Virgo shouldn't have been so damn vague about what's behind the door, then.

[ (bucky voice) WE HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG IN OUR ENTIRE LIVES, EVER ]

...but yeah, I'd want him out of here either way. He's a real pain in the ass. It's just the cherry on top that we're stuck without healing or sending out mail until we do.

[highestheim]

[ hope, for his part, is looking extremely remorseful as he shows up to this meeting. oofa, and i stress, doofa. ]

...I sincerely apologize for my part in setting Qi Rong free. I let my curiosity get the better of me, and, through my arrogance and lack of foresight, got all of you involved as well. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, please let me know. While I admit that I have no plan in mind just yet, I will do everything I can to ensure he is contained once more.

That being said... I will add that Gemini has also confirmed that Virgo is alive and well on their side. They also reminded me that, at the very least, we do have sheer numbers in our favor, so... yeah. We may want to keep that in mind as we try to figure out what to do with him.

[callalilies]

[ oh no out oofa doofa hope. kaeya just shakes his head a little. ]

It was all of us, don't take the blame all on your own.

And I will say, Qi Rong is easily riled... we have numbers an more brains than he does. We have to get the key back and put him back in that door since it seems like it was the only thing that could hold him.

[highestheim]

I still feel as though I hold a sizable amount of the culpability—I'm not sure if we would have rallied together the way we did if I didn't put out the call.

[ ... ]

You're right, though. Even though I would be loath to say I'm glad to see you here... I am grateful to have your experience on hand. [ aka thank you for knowing the stink... ]

[illomened]

[SWEET HOPE. He just gently reaches out to touch his shoulder for a light moment. It's not tactile week, he's just like this.]

As Kaeya-san said, we all chose to take part. The blame rests on all of us.

[frostythehitman]

Please. If you hadn't planned to break into it, I probably would've done it myself.

[cuedoves]

We all participated. It's not just your fault.

[sageguidance]

'Tis of little surprise to hear that Virgo is upset about matters. Regardless of the outcome, I expected them to be, but clearly we did not anticipate the result we ended up with...

[ Alphinaud looks a little tired, too. This fucker is loud. ]

I spoke with Aquarius about what happened, and they were also quite cross with us, and seemed surprised we would attempt what we did at all... And also confirmed Kaeya's claims that, yes, this Qi Rong is indeed a cannibal. [ just. ???? okay. ] They had little in the way of helpful advice to offer, other than we ought to observe his actions first and foremost ere we rush in to stop him. Though, if I must speak true, I know not how much longer I can tolerate his presence...

[ u did this to urself alphinaud ]

[callalilies]

It won't be long, I can guarantee you that...

Observation is good, see if there's a pattern to his rampage currently, see if he checks certain places like clockwork or if it's simply at random, or even instigated by something? Then perhaps lay a trap for him...

[frostythehitman]

So the other employees do know a bit about what's going on on our side. Did you ask them what might've happened to our bodies, by any chance?

[ercnerd]

[Sieghart partakes of breakfast. His chewing slows down considerably at Aikawa's explanation of Virgo's weird behavior before picking back up at the end while he nods. Then, once it's everyone's turn to speak:]

Orion's response was similar to Aquarius'.

[illomened]

[Souji's probably only been able to scrape together like a small amount of decent things for breakfast considering Qi Rong ATE AND/OR TRASHED MOST OF THE FOOD AND INGREDIENTS IN THE KITCHEN but it's fine, it's fine. He's spending a lot of his time this week cleaning up some of the worse messes just because he can!!]

I spoke with Vulpecula-san and we both agree that it would be best to kill him. [WELL,,,] ...Though they cautioned to take care, as he is extremely dangerous.

[Souji personally would love that very much! ANYWAY moving on everyone else has discussions of trapping and so on rolling already, he has nothing to add there yet.]

Also, Rupert-kun or Kaeya-san, is there any information about the living side that we should know? When I spoke to Tsurumaru-san last week, he said that they knew nothing of note to pass on, and we had no information to give them in return, which is certainly concerning.

[IT'S WHY HE WAS OKAY WITH VIRGO DOOR HEIST AT ALL. He seems to consider something for a moment, before adding:] And... As I am sure you can imagine, there are many places on hotel grounds that fall under the jurisdiction of the hotel owner. Please consider this when speaking of certain things.

[frostythehitman]

I'm okay with killing him.

[ i'm sorry, this is all i have to contribute here ]

[dms]

[ ignore him but he's just looking a little alarmed at this ]

[agleam]

[pausing awkwardly at that first part before moving on to the question,,]

[thinking... thinking...]

Oh - Lup knows one of the staff. I didn't get the chance to ask her if it was from back home or from her last group, but her and Jason broke into Aquila's room. It was weird, though - Jason said that Lup is convinced that she knows Aquila, but that they're pretending to be someone else for some reason? Like, the decor and stuff in the room isn't anything like she would have expected. Jason guessed it might have to do something with the contract they have to follow.

Also, a few of the trips people have gone on during Thursdays are starting to make us think that the person in charge is trying to find a way to extend the contracts, or break them through some kind of loophole.

[cuedoves]

He needs to be taken out, one way or another.

[ zuko is +1 to killing...... murder jocks! ]

I do think we need a bit more information before we do anything, though. Is Virgo the one who locked him up? [ zuko would assume so.... ] What power does he have over this place, and why?

[callalilies]

I'm fine with dispatching Qi Rong as well. Truth be told, he's a menace and would strike to kill any of us first without hesitation.

[ after a pause ]

I would rather not speak of it aloud if it can be helped. I believe it's in the same vein as Rupert... though I won't give details. But there is [ waves hand ] something odd about it all.

[ clearing his throat and pointing at polaris then jerking his thumb out the window as qi rong cackles or smth equally obnoxious. ]

Souji, is there anywhere we can actually talk about this in better detail...?